Most archaeologists of Ged’s acquaintance could not resist taking something from every site they visited. Nothing crucial, nothing that could affect the interpretation of the site, not ‘treasure’ (he loved the fact that treasure was still a legal concept in the twenty-first century). Just stuff lying on the ground, ignored and neglected, at risk from […]

It was a great big brute of a clock. With a round fat 1950s face and muscular mahogany shoulders, it crouched on the mantelpiece spitting out the seconds. But what it lacked in grace it made up for in status. Along with my mother and myself, it was my father’s most prized possession; recognition by […]

Two months ago, Anna’s mother withdrew from public life and began collecting assassinations. Her first acquisition, according to most reports, was a cumbrous reproduction of Gérôme’s The Death of Caesar, which she dangled above the fireplace of her dimly lit sitting room. The exact order of her subsequent purchases was not established, but by all […]

On Tuesday, Neil slaps Anna for leaving a knife unwashed in the kitchen sink. The stinging flat of his palm against her cheek is forceful enough to knock the back of her head against the gleaming cooker hood. Anna apologises. She mentally marks his assault as a four on her private scale from one to […]

Patrick focuses his whole attention on the cat. He watches it roll over and scratch along its back with one leg as if the fur is an old coat to be discarded for the summer. He isn’t allowed to stroke Molly. He didn’t earn enough points in lessons this morning. Mummy was quite explicit. ‘You’re […]

Julia Clayton studied Economics at the LSE and Ancient History at King’s College London. For twenty-three years she was Head of Classics at King George V College, Southport, a state-sector sixth-form college. In summer 2019 she decided to retire from teaching in order to concentrate on writing and research. Her short stories, often inspired by […]

Owen Schalk is a fiction writer and a student of literature and history. His primary field of study is postcolonial writing from Latin America and the Middle East. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and his family owns and operates a honey farm outside the city. Since he was a child, Owen has been interested in […]

Maggie Humm is an Emeritus Professor at the University of East London, UK, and a Woolf scholar, with a debut novel titled Talland House (She Writes Press, 2020). Talland House was shortlisted for the Impress and Fresher Fiction prizes (as Who Killed Mrs. Ramsay?), as well as the Retreat West and Eyelands prizes, and was […]

George Sandison is a publisher, editor and writer living in London. He runs the award-winning independent press Unsung Stories, which specialises in literary and ambitious science fiction, fantasy and horror. He is also Managing Editor for Titan Books, doing much the same but for more money. His short stories can be found in Unthology 11, […]

Eve Morton is a writer living in Ontario, Canada. She teaches university and college classes on media studies, academic writing and genre literature, among other topics. She likes forensic science through the simplified lens of TV and philosophy through the cinematic lens of Richard Linklater. She has been writing since she was in high school […]